Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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The pres~nt invention relates to novel remotely cli~mountable
valve~ .
For nuclear installations treating highly radloactive and very
toxic fluids, for examplc for the retreatment of irradiated con~bustible~,
5 the whole of the apparatu~ i9 surroundecl by protecting 3creens which
stop the radiations and prevent the dis~eminatlon of radioactive and toxic
aerosol gases in the zone where the personnel is working. Moreover,
to facilitate the operations for maintenance of this apparatus enclosed ln
a cell, the equipment must have a dead volume of retention which is zero
10 or as little as possible, and precautions are taken to lirnit as much as
possible the contamination of the outer walls of the apparatus that it con-
tains. The apparatus and in particular the tanks are, for exampler en-
tirely closed and their vents are connected by hermetic pipes to in~tal-
lations for monitoring and treating the gaseous effluents and, to elimi-
15 nate the risks of leakage, no flanga assembly i9, as a general rule,allowed
The levels of radioactivity or toxicity reached often prohibit any
approach of the apparatuq for operations of rnaintenance in the cell. The
sensitive members, such as valves, pumps, or components thereof which
20 are subject to wear and tear during operation, must then be remotely
dismantled or positioned~and extracted from the cell or introduced therein
by means of mobile operation enclosures, or "lead castles", which
ensure the permanent biological protection of the personnel.
French Patent No. 1 344 95?. its Addition No. 88 688 and Patent
25 Application No. 76 24748 filed on August 13, 1976~describe a self-priming
centrifugal pump which is specially designed as a function of the~e
imperatives .
Moreover, French Patent No. 1 507 204 de~cribes devices allowing
on the one hand the remote control of a valve for fluids and, on the other
30 hand, the dismantling of this valve in order to extract it - with a view to
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repairing it, for example - from an enclGgure in which it is disposed,
The device recomrnencled ill sald ~rench Patent No. 1 507 ~04 consists in
disconnecting the valvc aggembly from the fluid inlet and outlet pipes,
so as to be able to rernove the whole of the valve from the enclosure
(body and obturatlon tlcvice as~embly
The valve according to the present invention is characterised
in that ~he body of said valve i8 permanently welded on the pipes in which
the dangerous fluid circulates, thus eliminating any connection of the
valve to the pipes by sealed junctions, the obturation device assernbly
of said valve constituted by a fixed or static membe~r and its accessories
is remotely dismountable by traction on a rod which may extract said
- assembly from the radioactive encIosure to conduct it to a "lead castle".
The obturation devlce assembly i8 generally composed of four
parts:
15 - an obturating stopper,
- a fixed or static member, whose outer forrn is truncated, cooperating
externally with the interior of the valve body and internally with the
movable part of the obturation device,
- one or more fixed or static cross-pieces, the top part of the upper
20 cross-piece cooperating with the lower surface of the stopper closing
the opening made in the.radioactive enclosure,
- a mobile obturator cooperatlng with the rnember.
The invention is particularly applicable in the case of valves in
which the displacement of the mobile obturator is effected by translation
30 (globe valve or piston valve), in the case of valves in.which the displace-
ment of the obturator is effected by rotation (butterfly valve or plug valve)
and in the case of valves in which She obturator is displaced by the com-
bination of a rotation and a translatlon.
The valves according to the invention generally require that the
35 body of the valve is su~tably positionFd sli th respect to the openlng made
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in the enclosure. This device for positioniny the body of the
valve is advantayeously constituted by a positioning sleeve
which is welded to the valve body, which is inserted in said
opening in th~ enclosure and which yenerally rests on a
shoulder suitably provided in said opening.
Thus, the body of -the valve will be welded to ths
pipe in which the dangerous fluid - liquid or gas - must circu-
late; this body will be constituted by an upwardly widening
truncated seat of vertical axis and of which the angle is
greater than the angle of jamming of the cone. This body
will be positioned beneath the opening made in the protect-
ing enclosure and this positioning will advantageously be
obtained due to a sleeve entering in said opening and rest-
ing on a shoulder in said opening.
Thus, according ~o one aspect of this in~ention there
is provided new remotely dismountable valves comprising : -
a valve body welded to the pipe in which a dangerous fluid -
liquid or gas - circulates r presenting an upwardly widening
truncated seat of vertical axis disposed immediately below
an opening made in a biological enclosure, means for exactly
positioning said body with respect to said opening : - a
member presenting an outer lower part of truncated form,
fitting on said seat and provided with seals at the top of
which is located a stop surface abutting on an upper stop
face made on said valve body; - a movable obturator of which
the movements may be controlled by a rod possibly provided
with an extension element allowing said control from outside
the enclosure; - and a heavy stopper comprising around its
axis a housing and a passage for said rod or said extension
element, said stoppex obturating the opening made in the
wall of the biological enclosure and made fast with the
member by one or more fixed or static cross-pieces, the upper
part of the upper cross-piece cooperating with the lower
surface of said stopper.
The invention will be more readily understood on
reading the following description with reference to the accom-
panying drawings, in which:
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Figs. 1 to 3 are sections through a butt~rfly valve
and through a glohe va]ve, respectively.
Referring now to the drawings, these Figures show:
- at 1, the ceiling of the biological enclosure in which the
S valve according to the invention is located;
- at 2, the body of the valve; as shown, the seat of this
valve body i5 located immediately below an opening made in
the ceiling of the biological enclosure; this valve body is
welded to the pipes 3 and 4 in which the dangerous fluid -
liquid or gas - circulates; this body presents an upwardly
widening truncated seat 5 of vertical axis; on the valve body,
there has been welded a sleeve 6 adapted to position this
body with respect to the opening made in the ceiling of the
enclosure; the body of the valve pressnts in its upper part
a stop surface 7. In Figs. l and 2, the sleeve 6 is chosen
so as to be able to be inserted in the opening made in the
enclosure and presents in its upper part an enlarged portion
coming into abutment on a shoulder made in said opening.
In Fig. 3, this sleeve 6 is constituted by a
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sort of bowl whlch is applied againgt the lower face of the enclosure.
- at 8, a member of which the outer lower part is trurlcated in form,
suitable for cooperating with ~he truncated cone of the ~e~t of the body
of the valve; this lower part of the member ig provided with seals ~
5 fast with said rnember during digmantling; in tho case o~ a butterfly
valve, one of the seals 9 will preferably be di~poged around the fluid
inlet and outlet piFe s and the other seal di~posed around said member
with respect to the ver~ical axig thereof; in the upper part of this trun-
cated bearing surface, the member comprises on its periphery a stop
10 surface 10 which abuts on the stop surface 7 of the valve body, whilst
allowing the seals 9 to ensure the desired tightness.
- at 11, an obturator either of the rotating type (butterfly for Fig. 1) or
of the tran~lating type (Figs. 2 and 3); the obturator i5 provided, in its
upper part, wth a rod 12 allowing the said obturator to be controlled
15 and being extended outside the enclosure by an extension element po0sibly
having articulations.
- at 13, a heavy stopper having in its axis a housing 14 and a passage 15
for the extension of the rod of the obturator; this stopper obturates the
opening made in the biological enclosure with the aid of seals such as 16
20 (seals cooperating either with the enclosure itself or with the sleeve 6),
- at 17, a cross-piece having an outer surface 18 in the form of a seg-
ment of a sphere which cooperates wlth a corresponding spherical sur-
face made in the lower part of the stopper 13 (around the lower part of
the central hou0ing 14); thi~ segment of sphere enables the stopper to
25 ensure a suitable pressure on the member 8 even if the axis of said stop-
per ls not in exact alignment with the axis of the body or the member.
Finally, the existence i8 noted:
- on the one hand, wherever this is necessary, of gaskets and stuffing
boxes en8uring the necessary tightness;
30 - on the other hand of channel~ enabling the possible leakages and drips
which may be produced either during functioning or in the course of
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di~mantling of the mernber 8, to be ovacuated, lf nece~ary
In the valve~ according to th~ lnv~3ntlon, the heavy 3topper
actlng by it~ own weight and/or by a controlled out~lde pres~ure,
brlng3, vla the cross-plece and the ~leeve, tho ~top ~urface of the
5 mernber 8 Into contact wlth the ~top ~urface of the valve body, thi~
leading to a controlled crushlng of the ~eals carrled by the outer lower
part of the member a~ainst the ~eat of the valve body. In thij po~ition,
the valve i8 ready to function, lts opolllng and closure being effected
by a suitable movement of the obturator obtained by action on the end
10 of the rod projecting from the ~topper. When the valve is to be dis-
mantled, a traction on the ~topper provokes the outward drive of the
obturation device assembly composed of the member, the mobile
obturator, the ~topper and the cros#-piece or cro~s-piece~.
